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In this way monotheism led Mohammed to ethics. Like the Jews, he interpreted the First Commandment so strictly that Moslems were forbidden to make any kind of picture or "image," and the ban holds today. He forbade the use of alcohol, and the majority of Moslems have obeyed this prohibition through the centuries. (Today, most well-to-do Moslems who have social contact with Westerners do drink.) Mohammed sternly forbade sexual promiscuity, but for males this was greatly modified by permitting men to have as many as four wives, to divorce them at will, and to keep concubines in addition. In practice, most Moslems have one wife, no concubine; divorce is far less common than in the U.S.
On the Last Day, the bodies of all men would rise from the dead to undergo a Last Judgment of a merciful God, the Compassionate One. Mohammed would be on hand to intercede for the faithful.
Monotheism and the Last Judgment are the only important Mohammedan doctrines. Beyond these, the theology of Islam is as bare of major furniture as the inside of a mosque. Mosques are often decorated with intricately patterned and endlessly repeated geometrical designs. Similarly, Moslem teaching runs on about the hours and posture for prayers, when and how to perform ablutions and other helpful hints on morals, ritual and etiquette.
Success Story
Mohammed's success began when the city of Medina, torn by strife between two tribes, asked him to come and rule it. In 622, sending his followers on ahead, he transferred to Medina. This point, the Hegira, is the beginning of the Moslem calendar.
Immediately, Mohammed put the Medinans to work, raiding caravans, converting pagans, blockading Mecca from the north. In 630, Mecca gave in. As the Meccan leaders had foreseen, Mohammed had to conquer all Arabia to make the conversion of Mecca stick. This he did — brilliantly — before his death in 632.
Before his death, he made Mecca, and especially the Kaaba, a center of veneration that was to draw a thousand times more pilgrims than had ever worshiped at Mecca's polytheist shrines.
One other act of Mohammed stands out as of permanent his torical importance. When he captured the Christian settlement of Aylah, he found that he did not have enough followers to work the land. He made no effort to force the conversion of the Christians or to interfere in their communal government. He merely exacted a tribute from them. This policy of toleration became one of the main keys to Islam's astounding success.
"Islam or the sword" was his policy toward pagans. That Islam offered this harsh choice to Jews or Christians ("People of the Book") is a canard of Christian propagandists.
The Years of Conquest
Mohammed neglected to set up a succession, and his oldest and closest associates chose as Caliph [successor] Abu Bakr, who immediately directed the Moslem breakout from the Arabian Peninsula. The Arabs' two great neighbors, the Persian and Byzantine empires, were exhausted by long wars.